Most peak time train services have been cancelled in Wellington on Wednesday morning after a freight train derailed.

The only services operating are on the Johnsonville line, which was not affected by the incident. Other lines into downtown Wellington have been damaged and only a handful of replacement buses are available, meaning up to 20,000 passengers travelling during the weekday peak will need to find different ways to travel.

It's possible the disruption could continue into the afternoon, as crews work round the clock to repair the damaged lines.

JEFF TOLLAN/STUFFCrews inspecting train tracks after a freight train was derailed in Wellington, causing delays for the commuter network.

The NZ Transport Agency is warning motorists in the capital to expect additional delays.

On Wednesday morning KiwiRail chief operations officer Todd Moyle said the three derailed wagons and remainder of the train were removed from the site by 5am, using two cranes and crews working through the night.

JEFF TOLLAN/STUFFA wagon had lost its rear wheels in the incident.

"The recovery of the derailed wagons was complicated by having to work around the overhead wires. The power supply to these wires had to be isolated before the recovery could commence," Moyle said.

Wagons on a freight train derailed while it was leaving Wellington freight yard about 7.40pm on Tuesday, Moyle said. The wagons remained upright but the engineer was unable to stop the train for another 230m.

The incident damaged tracks and . points on the main tracks into central Wellington.

Freight trains coming into the city overnight were cancelled.

It meant there were no trains running between Wellington and Petone, Wellington and Porirua, Wellington and Melling, or Wellington and Masterton for the morning commute.

Metlink had been unable to source bus replacements, aside from six buses which were due to leave Masterton for Wellington at 6.47am only.

JEFF TOLLAN/STUFFKiwiRail had brought in two cranes and staff from across the North Island.

"The disabled freight train has caused damage to the tracks and points at Wellington junction which is where the Kapiti and Hutt Valley lines meet just outside the Wellington station area," Metlink posted on its website.

"Work crews are currently on site assessing the damage and required repairs, but at this stage we have no indication of how long this will take."

The Johnsonville line was not affected, although previously advertised bus replacements would be running as trains, Metlink said.

JEFF TOLLAN/STUFFWorkers unbolting the track as they try to repair the line overnight."feel like a coffee bro? yeah I could go a coffee mate, tracks f#$ked bro, yeah it's f#$ked mate, how 'bout that coffee"*

In a statement, Metlink added: "We advise taking alternative transport or delaying travel if possible. We have not been able to source buses to transport the around 20,000 passengers who usually travel by train during a weekday peak."

Metlink buses will be accepting rail tickets, and customers should refer to the journey planner on the front page of the Metlink website for alternative bus routes.

KiwiRail had brought in two cranes and staff from across the North Island to help local staff remove the damaged wagons and repair tracks, and were working through the night. The cause of the derailment is being investigated.

Moyle said KiwiRail apologised for the inconvenience and was working as quickly as possible to restore the network to its normal operation, adding "safety is our utmost priority."

KAPITI LINE:

Reduced train services stopping at all stations will run on a half hourly timetable from 6am between Waikanae and Porirua only. These services will depart Waikanae on the hour and at 30 minutes past the hour.

If you are wanting to travel between Porirua and Wellington, Metlink recommends alternative transport or avoiding travel.

HUTT VALLEY LINE:

Reduced train services stopping at all stations will run on a half hourly timetable from 6am between Upper Hutt and Petone only. These services will depart Upper Hutt at :00 and :30 past the hour.

If you are wanting to travel between Petone and Wellington, Metlink recommends alternative transport or avoiding travel.WAIRARAPA LINE:

Only six buses are available to travel between Masterton and Wellington in the morning, which will be departing at 6.47am only. Metlink recommends alternative transport or avoiding travel.MELLING LINE:

All Melling line services are cancelled. Please arrange alternative transport or avoid travel.

JOHNSONVILLE LINE:

Train services will continue to run to timetable on the Johnsonville line as it is not affected by the derailment.

The current bus replaced services departing Wellington at 5.32am, 6.42am and 7.42am as well as the services departing Johnsonville at 6am, 7.15am and 8.15am will run as trains. These services will continue to be bus replaced from July 4; the buses normally used for these services will be re-deployed to transport passengers into Wellington from the disrupted lines.

CAPITAL CONNECTION:

The service that runs from Palmerston North to Wellington will be replaced by buses for all stations to Ōtaki. Passengers in Waikanae and Paraparaumu are asked to make alternative arrangements, due to limited bus availability.

Ghost note: I was in the Ghostmobile around 6:30am as per usual, the traffic was a little heavy, but overall I was a measly 9 to 10 minutes later than on a standard wet day. Throughout the journey, if the radio was to be believed, the entire world had ground to a halt and "hey punk don't even think about trying to enter the city" what a joke, my 18 odd work colleagues were also on deck within minutes of their usual arrival time(s), many having travelled further than myself.....

The return journey, which is usually around fifty to sixty minutes in a wet rush hour, was as predicted, around three hours of barely moving bumper to bumper hell with intermittent bursts of torrential rain.....I left a good half hour later than usual, replete with a thermos of strong coffee a sack of cookies and FZ memory stick #one (65 albums of goodness Freak Out through to Läther) and the drive still took forever.....I could have driven a third of the way to the hell hole that is Auckland.....

_________________hey punk where you going with that golf club in your hand, again.....

Most peak time train services have been cancelled in Wellington on Wednesday morning after a freight train derailed.

The only services operating are on the Johnsonville line, which was not affected by the incident. Other lines into downtown Wellington have been damaged and only a handful of replacement buses are available, meaning up to 20,000 passengers travelling during the weekday peak will need to find different ways to travel.

It's possible the disruption could continue into the afternoon, as crews work round the clock to repair the damaged lines.

JEFF TOLLAN/STUFFCrews inspecting train tracks after a freight train was derailed in Wellington, causing delays for the commuter network.

The NZ Transport Agency is warning motorists in the capital to expect additional delays.

On Wednesday morning KiwiRail chief operations officer Todd Moyle said the three derailed wagons and remainder of the train were removed from the site by 5am, using two cranes and crews working through the night.

JEFF TOLLAN/STUFFA wagon had lost its rear wheels in the incident.

"The recovery of the derailed wagons was complicated by having to work around the overhead wires. The power supply to these wires had to be isolated before the recovery could commence," Moyle said.

Wagons on a freight train derailed while it was leaving Wellington freight yard about 7.40pm on Tuesday, Moyle said. The wagons remained upright but the engineer was unable to stop the train for another 230m.

The incident damaged tracks and . points on the main tracks into central Wellington.

Freight trains coming into the city overnight were cancelled.

It meant there were no trains running between Wellington and Petone, Wellington and Porirua, Wellington and Melling, or Wellington and Masterton for the morning commute.

Metlink had been unable to source bus replacements, aside from six buses which were due to leave Masterton for Wellington at 6.47am only.

JEFF TOLLAN/STUFFKiwiRail had brought in two cranes and staff from across the North Island.

"The disabled freight train has caused damage to the tracks and points at Wellington junction which is where the Kapiti and Hutt Valley lines meet just outside the Wellington station area," Metlink posted on its website.

"Work crews are currently on site assessing the damage and required repairs, but at this stage we have no indication of how long this will take."

The Johnsonville line was not affected, although previously advertised bus replacements would be running as trains, Metlink said.

JEFF TOLLAN/STUFFWorkers unbolting the track as they try to repair the line overnight."feel like a coffee bro? yeah I could go a coffee mate, tracks f#$ked bro, yeah it's f#$ked mate, how 'bout that coffee"*

In a statement, Metlink added: "We advise taking alternative transport or delaying travel if possible. We have not been able to source buses to transport the around 20,000 passengers who usually travel by train during a weekday peak."

Metlink buses will be accepting rail tickets, and customers should refer to the journey planner on the front page of the Metlink website for alternative bus routes.

KiwiRail had brought in two cranes and staff from across the North Island to help local staff remove the damaged wagons and repair tracks, and were working through the night. The cause of the derailment is being investigated.

Moyle said KiwiRail apologised for the inconvenience and was working as quickly as possible to restore the network to its normal operation, adding "safety is our utmost priority."

KAPITI LINE:

Reduced train services stopping at all stations will run on a half hourly timetable from 6am between Waikanae and Porirua only. These services will depart Waikanae on the hour and at 30 minutes past the hour.

If you are wanting to travel between Porirua and Wellington, Metlink recommends alternative transport or avoiding travel.

HUTT VALLEY LINE:

Reduced train services stopping at all stations will run on a half hourly timetable from 6am between Upper Hutt and Petone only. These services will depart Upper Hutt at :00 and :30 past the hour.

If you are wanting to travel between Petone and Wellington, Metlink recommends alternative transport or avoiding travel.WAIRARAPA LINE:

Only six buses are available to travel between Masterton and Wellington in the morning, which will be departing at 6.47am only. Metlink recommends alternative transport or avoiding travel.MELLING LINE:

All Melling line services are cancelled. Please arrange alternative transport or avoid travel.

JOHNSONVILLE LINE:

Train services will continue to run to timetable on the Johnsonville line as it is not affected by the derailment.

The current bus replaced services departing Wellington at 5.32am, 6.42am and 7.42am as well as the services departing Johnsonville at 6am, 7.15am and 8.15am will run as trains. These services will continue to be bus replaced from July 4; the buses normally used for these services will be re-deployed to transport passengers into Wellington from the disrupted lines.

CAPITAL CONNECTION:

The service that runs from Palmerston North to Wellington will be replaced by buses for all stations to Ōtaki. Passengers in Waikanae and Paraparaumu are asked to make alternative arrangements, due to limited bus availability.

Ghost note: I was in the Ghostmobile around 6:30am as per usual, the traffic was a little heavy, but overall I was a measly 9 to 10 minutes later than on a standard wet day. Throughout the journey, if the radio was to be believed, the entire world had ground to a halt and "hey punk don't even think about trying to enter the city" what a joke, my 18 odd work colleagues were also on deck within minutes of their usual arrival time(s), many having travelled further than myself.....

The return journey, which is usually around fifty to sixty minutes in a wet rush hour, was as predicted, around three hours of barely moving bumper to bumper hell with intermittent bursts of torrential rain.....I left a good half hour later than usual, replete with a thermos of strong coffee a sack of cookies and FZ memory stick #one (65 albums of goodness Freak Out through to Läther) and the drive still took forever.....I could have driven a third of the way to the hell hole that is Auckland.....

I was a big fan of the swedish version of mad magazine from around 1966-67 and onward.it was basically the american magazine translated into swedish. and greatly translated too.we had most of the tv series that mad magazine made parodies of on swedish tv, and, of course, we had the movies.great cartoonists and writers. lots of classic stuff.

in the early 80's, though, it started to incorporate swedish material. some of it was good, but most of it not so much.it lost its touch for me. it was discontinued 1993 (a couple of attempts to revive it occurred, though, but nothing came out of those).

US firefighters were battling to contain a massive blaze at a Jim Beam warehouse with 45,000 barrels of bourbon, as crews struggle to contain damaging runoff that has already begun to flow into a nearby creek and the Kentucky River.

Government officials say the runoff - a mixture of whiskey, hose water, barrel residue and charred debris - will potentially lead to a "severe fish kill" as bacteria feast on the alcohol and deplete the water's oxygen supply.

To minimise the impact, officials have advised firefighters to let the fire burnout, said John Mura, a spokesman for the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet. "Given the extreme heat of this fire, it would not do a lot to put out this fire and would simply carry the bourbon residue a lot further."

APBourbon up in flames. A warehouse fire at a Jim Beam distillery in Woodford County, Kentucky, saw firefighters from four counties responded to the blaze.The building housed more than 2.3 million gallons of bourbon, based on the number of barrels and their typical volume. The Energy and Environment Cabinet has also alerted the drinking water plant, Mura said.

Drew Chandler, the emergency management director for Woodford County, told local news station WKYT that lighting might have sparked the fire at one warehouse Tuesday night local time before spreading to a second storage facility. Crews managed to extinguish one, he said, but the other fire was proving more challenging.

APFlames and smoke rise from a bourbon warehouse fire. To minimise the impact, officials advised firefighters to let the fire burnout.A standard barrel contains about 200 litres of bourbon, which is aged for years to achieve its desired colour and flavour. The bourbon gives the flames ample material to burn, Chandler said. Generally, any alcohol that's at least 80 proof - like most bourbon - is flammable.

Chandler told the Louisville Courier Journal that the fire was burning so hot he could feel the heat even standing as much as a football field away, or about 100 metres. The intense temperatures were keeping the crews from getting close enough, he said.

"We are thankful that no one was injured in this incident, and we are grateful to the courageous firefighters from multiple jurisdictions who brought the fire under control and prevented it from spreading," Jim Beam's parent company, Beam Suntory, said in a statement. "We have a comprehensive warehouse safety program that includes regular inspections and rigorous protocols to promote safety and the security of our aging inventory."

APBourbon mixes with water in the Kentucky River. The runoff - a mixture of whiskey, hose water, barrel residue and charred debris - will potentially lead to a "severe fish kill".The company operates 126 barrel warehouses, which collectively hold 3.3 million barrels, in the state. The warehouse that was destroyed contained relatively young whiskey, Beam Suntory said, the loss of which will not impact availability.

A September report by the Courier Journal found that facilities where bourbon makers age their products can go without independent safety inspections for decades, raising public safety and environmental questions about an industry central to the state's economy. The report documented a series of warehouse collapses and fires, including a lightning-sparked blaze that burned down a Jim Beam facility in 2003.

In 2010, the state adopted new structural requirements for bourbon warehouses. The rules include mandatory fire suppression systems in new facilities taller than five stories. But older warehouses are not required to update their buildings, according to the report.

In the past year, bourbon distillers have also had to contend with the economic consequences of President Trump's trade war. US whiskey exports slowed during the second half of 2018, after trading partners including the European Union enacted retaliatory tariffs of up to 25 per cent, raising the cost of American-made whiskey and bourbon. Sales fell by 11 per cent from July to December last year, compared with the same period in 2017, according to data compiled by the Distilled Spirits Council.

ROME — Thirty-six years ago, the teenage daughter of a Vatican City employee vanished off a Rome street on her way home, beginning one of Italy’s most enduring mysteries: Over the years, reports have variously linked her fate to the Sicilian Mafia, the K.G.B. and the plot to assassinate Pope John Paul II.

On Thursday, the latest trail led her family and a Vatican-appointed forensic scientist to two tombs inside the Vatican walls, the burial places of princesses well over a century dead.

The team only found another mystery: The tombs were empty. Even the bodies of the dead princesses were missing.

It was yet another strange turn for a family that has suffered false leads, red herrings and intense media attention since the girl, Emanuela Orlandi, disappeared at age 15 on June 22, 1983. Their quest to discover her fate has taken them down many tortuous paths, following up on tips, anonymous letters and reports of sightings.Sign up for The Interpreter

Subscribe for original insights, commentary and discussions on the major news stories of the week, from columnists Max Fisher and Amanda Taub.

Like other well-scrutinized cold cases around the world, Emanuela’s disappearance has inspired many conspiracy theories. She has been linked to the C.I.A., to Bulgarian agents, to a Roman crime gang and to an American archbishop involved in a major Italian banking scandal.

But clues in the case have been scanty, despite investigators’ efforts. This was not the first exhumation in search of her remains.

The path to the tombs began in late 2017, when Emanuela’s brother, Pietro Orlandi, was approached by the first of several people working inside the Vatican who suggested that Emanuela might be buried in the Teutonic Cemetery, which for centuries was a final resting place for people of Germanic origin.

His sources told him to seek the place where an angel was pointing in the cemetery, which is between St. Peter’s Basilica and the Paul VI Audience Hall.

That led Mr. Orlandi to the tomb of Princess Sophie of Hohenlohe, who died in 1836. Giovanni Arcudi, a professor of forensic medicine at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, began the exhumation of the tomb on Thursday.

Mr. Arcudi was authorized by the Vatican’s chief prosecutor to analyze the contents of the tomb — as well as the adjacent tomb of Princess Carlotta Federica of Mecklenburg, who died in 1840 — and take samples for DNA testing. The theory was that Emanuela’s body was inside one of the tombs.

Through the family’s lawyer, Laura Sgro, in February, Mr. Orlandi formally asked the Vatican to open the tomb of Princess Sophie. The family received approval last month to have both tombs opened.

But any hope that the tombs would provide answers to the family were quickly dashed when the Vatican issued a statement hours after the operation began.

“There were no human remains nor funerary urns,” the Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said in the statement.

Princess Sophie’s tomb led to a large underground space that was “completely empty,” the statement said, while the tomb of Princess Carlotta “had no human remains.”

The Vatican added that the cemetery had undergone work during the first part of the 19th century, and again in the 1960s and 1970s, and that it would examine the documentation regarding these interventions.

On Thursday, Ms. Sgro said the family was trying to understand why they had been sent on yet another fruitless search.

“We expected everything today, but not to find two empty tombs,” she said on the Italian affiliate of Sky News. “We want to know why we were sent there, and why there was nothing.”

After the tombs were found empty, Mr. Orlandi, Emanuela’s brother and the leader of the family’s decades-long efforts, told the Italian affiliate of Sky News, “Part of me was relieved that Emanuela was not there.”

He added in a separate interview on Thursday that his family had become used to “illusions and disillusions,” and that they had known that the exhumation could have been a further waste of time. “Still,” he said, “I was surprised that there was nothing at all.”

Mr. Orlandi said he had called on the Vatican to investigate after receiving several tips from people working in the Vatican, though none of them were there at the time of his sister’s disappearance.

He said that he had been “positively surprised” by the Vatican’s assistance. “For the first time in 36 years, the Vatican has concretely done something important” in the case, he said.

Opening the tomb “signals a change of position,” he said, noting that when he met Pope Francis in 2013, the pope told him that his sister was “in heaven” and left it at that.

Mr. Orlandi said the Vatican’s overture had been important, because after decades of denying any links with the case, there was “an admission that there is a possibility of internal responsibility.”

But he said the missing princesses — even the sarcophagus in Princess Charlotte’s tomb was empty — posed a new dilemma for the Vatican. “Now, even the heirs don’t know where they’ve gone,” he said. “I think this is a problem for the Vatican that will have to be justified.”

_________________“Listen to everyone, read everything; believe absolutely nothing unless you can prove it in your own right!”

(HONOLULU) — Thousands of protesters have joined a swelling effort to stop construction of a telescope they have long tried to keep off a mountain considered sacred to some Native Hawaiians, but state officials doubled down Wednesday on their commitment to ensure the project will be completed.

After a day of growing crowds and arrests of elderly demonstrators, Hawaii Gov. David Ige signed an emergency proclamation giving law enforcement more options to end the blockade.

The state hadn’t decided whether to remove protesters from the mountain, but the proclamation makes that an option, Ige said.

“We are certainly committed to ensuring the project has access to the construction site,” Ige said. “We’ve been patient in trying to allow the protesters to express their feelings about the project.”

About 2,000 people packed the base of Mauna Kea after the arrests, Hawaii County Managing Director Wil Okabe said. That’s more than three times the number of protesters who had showed up in previous days.

Police in riot gear temporarily lined the road to the top of the Big Island mountain, which is valued by astronomers for its consistently clear weather and minimal light pollution and the site for the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope, expected to be one of the world’s most advanced.

Protest leader Kealoha Pisciotta told The Associated Press that police took away about 30 elders who were prepared to be arrested as they blocked the road.

“They’re taking our kupuna,” Pisciotta said, using the Hawaiian word for elders, and sobbing. Around her, people sang “Hawaii Aloha,” a Hawaiian song that’s common at events.

Some of the elders being arrested used canes and strollers to walk, while others were taken in wheelchairs to police vans. Those who could walk on their own were led away with their hands in zip ties.

State spokesman Dan Dennison 33 people were arrested, given citations and released.

Walter Ritte, one of the protesters arrested, said he was driven down the mountain and later went back to the base of Mauna Kea but didn’t plan to block the road again Wednesday.

“But tomorrow is another day, and we’re free to do whatever we want tomorrow,” Ritte said.

Native Hawaiian protesters and other opponents of the Thirty Meter Telescope say they are concerned that construction will desecrate and damage the mountain.

The project has been delayed by years of legal battles and demonstrations. Last year, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that telescope officials had legally obtained a permit, clearing the way for construction to begin.

But protesters are still fighting at the mountain and in court, filing a lawsuit last week that said the project must post a security bond equivalent to the construction contract cost before starting to build.

Telescope officials said the challenge has no merit and is another delay tactic.

Some Native Hawaiians say they don’t believe the project will desecrate Mauna Kea. Most of the cultural practices on the mountain take place away from the summit, said Annette Reyes, a Native Hawaiian from the Big Island.

“It’s going to be out of sight, out of mind,” she said.

Authorities closed the road to the mountain Monday to allow construction to begin, attracting hundreds of protesters who formed their own roadblocks.

The blockade forced astronomers to stop operating 13 existing telescopes on the mountain Tuesday. Dozens of researchers from around the globe won’t be able to gather data and study the sky.

Observations won’t resume until staffers have consistent access to the summit, a move that is needed to ensure their safety, said Jessica Dempsey, deputy director of the East Asian Observatory, one of the existing telescopes.

July 18, 20191:30 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition Some of Puerto Rico's biggest stars rallied a crowd of many thousands in San Juan on Wednesday, calling on the island's governor, Ricardo Rosselló, to resign. It was the fifth day in a row of protests in the U.S. territory, following a leak of hundreds of pages of misogynistic and homophobic texts between the governor and his main advisers.

During the day, trap artist Bad Bunny and singer Ricky Martin were among the huge crowd that marched to the governor's mansion.

Tensions ratcheted up in the evening as protesters burst through a barricade at the governor's mansion and security forces fired tear gas at the crowd, causing many to flee into surrounding streets. A livestream from Puerto Rican news site El Nuevo Día showed chaotic scenes of demonstrators confronting riot police a few minutes after midnight local time.

By early hours Thursday, the old city of San Juan resembled a war zone, with police chasing protesters through the streets while firing rubber bullets, gas canisters and what appeared to be flash bombs.

Earlier, demonstrators wearing gas masks and hard hats set a pile of garbage on fire in a plaza, and police quickly fired tear gas at them. A street was shown littered with debris and broken glass.

As El Nuevo Día reported, police spokesperson Axel Valencia said five people were arrested and two people were reported injured.

He said several senior police officers were in the area and ordered the protesters to stand down.

"They were given verbal commands to cease and desist what they were doing. They were throwing rocks, quarter sticks of dynamite. They were throwing many things," Valencia said, according to the news site. "You all saw how close they got to the fences of the perimeter, and well, there came a moment when our personnel had to use tear gases."

The protests have been gaining momentum every day with high-profile support, including from Lin-Manuel Miranda, who led a demonstration in New York calling on Rosselló to step down.

Rosselló has apologized for the texts but has insisted that he intends to remain in office.

In the private chat messages published on Saturday by Puerto Rico's Center for Investigative Journalism, the governor and his inner circle use misogynistic language to talk about women. They use homophobic language to talk about journalists and Ricky Martin. They engage in fat-shaming. They talk about manipulating the media and public opinion polls. And they make jokes about shooting the mayor of San Juan.

The governor's chief financial officers made a joke about the dead bodies that piled up in a government facility before and after Hurricane Maria in 2017. That comment has been particularly galling for many Puerto Ricans still recovering from the deadly storm nearly two years later.

The island is suffering from far more problems than the hurricane. It's been mired in an economic recession for more than a decade, including a debt crisis that has resulted in slashing public services and the imposition of a federal oversight board that has taken control of Puerto Rico's finances. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced leave the island, a trend that accelerated after the hurricane. For many residents, the chats have become a representation in black and white of the indifference they feel their leaders have for their daily struggles.

Protesters say they expect demonstrations to get bigger should the governor continue clinging to office.

_________________“Listen to everyone, read everything; believe absolutely nothing unless you can prove it in your own right!”

Mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival south of San Jose, CA. I have a close friend that volunteers at this event every year. I haven’t heard from him yet. Hopefully, he’s ok and just communicating with family right now.

Mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival south of San Jose, CA. I have a close friend that volunteers at this event every year. I haven’t heard from him yet. Hopefully, he’s ok and just communicating with family right now.

I hope they were as far away as possible from the action KU'

Four people killed, including one suspect, in shooting at US garlic festival17:26, July, 29th 2019

Four people have been killed, including reportedly a 3-year old boy, and several more injured in the US at an annual garlic festival in California.

The Gilroy chief of police Scot Smithee said the suspect was shot and killed by Gilroy police within a minute. Another suspect is in custody. Witnesses stated there may be a second shooter. Police are investigating.

Smithee said he has no idea of a motive. He did not confirm a child was among the dead at the time of the media conference.

APA young couple embrace at a parking lot after a fatal shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California.

Police said it is believed the shooter cut through the fence to gain access to the festival.

Gliroy police spoke to media at at 10pm local time which was 5pm NZ time. Watch the livestream above.

NIAMH/TWITTERPeople ran as shot rang out at the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival in California.

Councilman Dion Bracco said three people had been killed and 12 had been injured at a garlic festival in Gilroy, which is about 50 kilometres southeast of San Jose.

He did not know whether the number of injured victims included the three fatalities. Bracco told The Associated Press those are preliminary figures following Sunday's shooting. The number of victims could not immediately be confirmed by the police.

The shooting occurred during the annual garlic festival, a three-day celebration featuring food, cooking competitions and music that attracts more than 100,000 people.

Witnesses described the confusion and panic at the scene, the Mercury News reported.

Evenny Reyes of Gilroy, 13, told the newspaper that spent the day at the Gilroy Garlic Festival with her friends and relatives.

"We were just leaving and we saw a guy with a bandana wrapped around his leg because he got shot. And there were people on the ground, crying," Reyes said. "There was a little kid hurt on the ground. People were throwing tables and cutting fences to get out."

Reyes told the Mercury News that she didn't run at first because the gunshots sounded like fireworks. "It started going for five minutes, maybe three. It was like the movies - everyone was crying, people were screaming."

Todd Jones, a sound engineer, told the newspaper that he was at the front of the festival's Vineyard stage when he heard what sounded like a firework. "But then it started to increase, more rapidly, which sounded more like gunfire, and at that point people realized what was happening," Jones said.

Natalie Martinez, a Gilroy Resident, told the Mercury News that she had gone to get food and separated from her two daughters. "I ran to find the girls . and we basically ran into each other. I thought, We're open prey. It was awful."

Video first posted on social media sites about 5.30pm on Sunday (local time) showed people running for safety at the festival.

Agents from the US federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are responding to the scene of the shooting.

Video first posted on social media sites about an hour ago showed people running for safety at the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival in Northern California.

Sunday was the final day of the festival.

The Gilroy Police Department on its Twitter account issued a statement saying: "The hearts of Gilroy PD and entire community go out to the victims of today's shooting at the Garlic Festival. The scene is still active..."

APPeople leave the Gilroy Garlic Festival following a deadly shooting in California.

Stanford Medical Center has two patients being treated from the shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, spokeswoman Julie Greicius said. She had no details on their injuries or conditions. Santa Clara Valley Medical Center received five victims, spokeswoman Joy Alexiou said. She also had no information on their conditions.

Gilroy is a city of roughly 50,000 and is dubbed the "Garlic capital of the world".

US President Donald Trump tweeted about the shooting. "Law Enforcement is at the scene of shootings in Gilroy, California. Reports are that shooter has not yet been apprehended. Be careful and safe!" he wrote.

ECJ ruling for German techno pioneers has implications for music industry

The EU’s highest court has ruled that musicians cannot “sample” other artists’ records without permission, in a landmark judgment on a case brought by German electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk that has raged for 20 years.

The European Court of Justice ruling, which lays the ground for copyright holders to challenge unauthorised use of their recordings, has the potential to have a huge impact on artists who rely on samples to generate new work.

Kraftwerk brought the action against hip-hop producers Moses Pelham and Martin Haas in 1999 over the Sabrina Setlur song “Nur Mir”, which revolves around a two-second snippet of “Metall auf Metall”.

The ECJ ruled on Monday that the reproduction of a sound sample taken from an existing recording must be authorised by the original producer, which in the case of “Metall auf Metall” was Kraftwerk co-founders Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider-Esleben.

The ECJ also ruled that use of a modified sample that was unrecognisable from the original could be used without permission under “freedom of the arts” rules.

Hermann Lindhorst, Mr Hütter’s lawyer, said he was “very confident” that the ruling upheld a previous judgment that “Nur Mir” was “recognisably” the work of Kraftwerk.

Florian Drücke, chairman of German musician’s union BVMI, said the ruling was clearly in favour of the copyright holder, while also defining when artistic freedom would override those rights.

“After 20 years, the ECJ clarified in the ‘Metall auf Metall’ case that a phonogram producer is allowed to ‘permit or prohibit the reproduction of its phonogram’ and that under certain conditions it can also defend itself against the use of third parties even if the audio sequence used is very short,” he said.

The impact of establishing a precedent on the use of samples could, however, have a marked impact on musical genres that rely on samples to create new work.

Raffaella De Santis, senior associate at law firm Harbottle & Lewis, said the ECJ ruling would make producers who have been cavalier about their use of samples sit up and take notice.

“It could have a chilling effect on artistic expression . . . Where we may well see a difference is in the creative process itself, in making and releasing music, especially in sample-heavy genres such as hip hop,” she said.

Kraftwerk are among the most sampled artists of all time with 739 samples, 176 covers and 30 remixes listed on the WhoSampled database. Mr Lindhorst said that while some of those samples were authorised by the band, many were not.

Mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival south of San Jose, CA. I have a close friend that volunteers at this event every year. I haven’t heard from him yet. Hopefully, he’s ok and just communicating with family right now.

My friend got back to me tonight. He’s fine. He volunteered at a beer booth in the morning and took in the festivities with his wife in the afternoon making it home by 5:00pm. The shooting took place at 5:30pm.

Mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival south of San Jose, CA. I have a close friend that volunteers at this event every year. I haven’t heard from him yet. Hopefully, he’s ok and just communicating with family right now.

My friend got back to me tonight. He’s fine. He volunteered at a beer booth in the morning and took in the festivities with his wife in the afternoon making it home by 5:00pm. The shooting took place at 5:30pm.

Mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival south of San Jose, CA. I have a close friend that volunteers at this event every year. I haven’t heard from him yet. Hopefully, he’s ok and just communicating with family right now.

My friend got back to me tonight. He’s fine. He volunteered at a beer booth in the morning and took in the festivities with his wife in the afternoon making it home by 5:00pm. The shooting took place at 5:30pm.

Good deal! Of all places, a garlic festival...anyone aware of a motive here?

_________________“Listen to everyone, read everything; believe absolutely nothing unless you can prove it in your own right!”

^^On the 19 year old shooters instagram he posted an encouragement to read a 19th century white supremacist book. He also mentioned the garlic festival and how it was time for people to get wasted on overpriced shit. He purchased the rapid fire assault rifle legally in Nevada earlier this month (not legal to purchase in California). Other than that they still don’t have a motive. Just another fucked up mind that shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a gun let alone an assault rifle.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 3 guests

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum